Many
in media and sports circles are now buzzing that the
true founding father of one-day cricket was not Kerry
Packer but Dennis Lillee - yet the TV smash Howzat!
whitewashes him from history, one of the original
World Series directors has revealed.

In
an rocket on Channel 9's ratings blockbuster, World
Series Cricket director Austin Robertson - who also
featured as a character in the mini-series - said
Australians should thank Lillee for creating the one-day
game.

In
response, the show's producers launched a broadside
of their own, claiming they asked Lillee to contribute
but the bowling superstar refused to because he wouldn't
get any money.

Mr
Robertson, who worked closely with the former Nine
king and the rebel team, also defended "the Big
Fella" and said he was not the bully he was portrayed
to be. Nor was the late batting star David Hookes
the simpering and indecisive vacillator depicted in
the show.

Mr
Robertson said Howzat! was great entertainment and
brilliantly produced but riddled with inaccuracies.

"The
producers made a nonsense of the way they treated
the man really responsible for the whole thing - Dennis
Lillee," he said.

"Dennis
was visible enough but he is not given the acknowledgement
for having the idea in the first place, and his contribution
in putting the entire thing together. Other people
have put their hands up for having the brainchild
of WSC but I am here to say that, without Lillee,
it would never have happened at the time.

"Though
Packer was determined to get the precious television
rights, they would never have been delivered at that
time without having the best fast bowler in the world
in his corner.

"Curiously,
the producers of the show, in the curtain-call of
the program, in the segment 'Where are the main players
today,' DKL was again overlooked.

"I
had to ask myself, why did they do that? It was Lillee
who delivered the players and, while it was great
to be playing on the Packer team, without Lillee it
would have never got off the ground."

Southern
Star producer John Edwards, who made the show, hit
back at Mr Robertson. He said Lillee boycotted the
show and "shut down" Mr Robertson after
learning no money was on offer.: "He (Robertson)
was invited. There's nothing more to say really. He
was mad keen on being involved and Dennis got to him
and he was shut down. Dennis wanted money.

"We
tried to speak to everybody and not everybody wanted
to speak. Some people had grievances and grudges.

"(Writer)
Chris Lee tried to involve them as much as as possible
in the story and they chose not to be involved."

Mr
Robertson confirmed he and Lillee had been approached
but declined to take part. He declined to comment
further or say whether money was an issue.

Lillee
could not be reached but he has consistently refused
to comment on Howzat!.

Mr
Robertson praised Mr Packer and revealed the media
tycoon was not as aggressive as the show portrayed:
"The portrayal of Kerry as a constant bully and
user of foul language is far from the truth. He could
bully. I saw him on many occasions rise up like an
out-of-control bull elephant and reduce a grown man
to tears. I heard him swear like a storm trooper when
out of control. But I never saw him chuck a plate
of food.

"I
thought Kerry was in the main a humble man, often
revealing great compassion, a gentle giant who would
talk issues out for hours before making a decision,
and then following it through.

"The
mini-series gave everybody the impression he was a
loud, foul- mouthed bully and we saw precious little
of his other side."

Channel
9 declined to comment however sources at the network
said they felt the show was spot on in capturing Mr
Packer.

Mr
Robertson also rejected Howzat!'s portrayal of friend
David Hookes, who died after an altercation with a
bouncer in Melbourne in 2004.

"David
was not a weak, indecisive and nervous character who
'spilled the beans' to The Age's Peter McFarline."

And
as for his own portrayal Mr Robertson said: "From
birth, and throughout the many years I have enjoyed
on the earth I have never had a moustache."

Shane
Warne; Cricket Great And Poker Celeb Wants To Help
Australian Flood Disaster Efforts; Warnie Birth's
A Non Hair Brained Idea And Hits The Phones...

Ausssie
cricket test legend Shane Warne has been hitting the
phones to his entertainment, media and sports world
friends and associates, wishing to support plans for
a cricketing 'Big Day Out' that may raise as much
as $20 million bucks for those effected in the Australian
floods, primarily effecting Queensland banana benders.

The
news of the Queensland's flood disaster journeyed
across to Britain... Pommie Land, and ex fast bowler
Darren Gough expressed his significant interest in
playing in a Legends Charity Twenty20 match at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground later this month.

Warnie
once again took to Twitter like a duck to water and
basically offered his services to an Australian Legends
team that may also include Glenn 'Ow Ah' McGrath,
Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Haydenand Darren Lehmann.

The
Pommie team would be almost certainly captained by
Michael Vaughan, with Gough and former Test all-rounder
Adam Hollioake also confirming their availability
less than 48 hours ago.

Warnie
then contacted Network Nine boss David 'Gyng' Gyngell
and event promoter Michael Gudinski to ensure maximum
exposure and benefits for the proposed event. Warne
was also involved in talks with Cricket Australia
boss James Sutherland.

Cricket
Australia could ratify an Australia-England Legends
Twenty20 showdown within days, with Warnie hoping
Gudinski can transform the day into a cricketing festival
by presiding over a post-match concert.

Australia
does have a solid track record for raising big bucks
when the right group of people from entertainment,
media, sports and business are brought together. Cricket's
last charity match, for Victoria's Black Saturday
bushfire victims back in 2009, raised more than $20
million. James Packer's Crown Limited and The Salvation
Army also helped raise towards a million dollars for
the bushfire appeals. As a nation Aussies from many
walks of life are able to bond together when the going
gets tough, with Mother Nature hitting the Aussies
for six and then some over the past week.

The
proposed fundraiser could be staged before the England-Australia
one-day international on January 30 for example.

A
Cricket Australia spokesman was able to confirm planning
for the Legends match was under way and offered "It's
early but we're looking at co-ordinating a Legends
match. We're still to nut out details but James Sutherland
had has a chat to Shane (Warne)," the spokesman
said. "There will be a series of things leading
up to that match that we're going to be doing. We
think the Legends match is a great idea so we're working
out ways to benefit from that enthusiasm for the people
of Queensland. All funds will be going straight to
the Queensland Premier's Fund appeal."

Packer,
Warnie, Murdoch (both of you sirs), Gyngell and Turnbull
and a few others - you're throw of the cricket ball
and dice!

Take
the time to research and learn games before placing
down money

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Man, Casino News Media and Gambling911 are website
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If
you have a bet, please bet with your head, not over
it, and for God's sake, have fun.

News

Aussie
Casino King James Packer, Shane Warne And Michael
Clarke Have A Feed And Chat At Crown Casino, by Greg
Tingle - 27th December 2010

Warnie
made one of his first public appearances since the
Liz Hurley affair in the UK, playing host to his Shane
Warne Foundation's annual Boxing Day breakfast at
Packer's Crown Casino. JP attended with wife Erica
in support of the event, which raises considerable
financials for children who are unwell. Cricket greats
Michael Clarke and Phil Hughes also attended in for
a spot of breaky before heading to the Melbourne Cricket
Group, where they ended up getting analysed in possibly
Australia's worse performance in The Ashes Cricket
series in 100 years! Performing artist Leo Sayer pumped
out a few great numbers to keep the punters entertained.

The
visitors needed just under 20 overs on day four to
claim Australia's final three wickets - with paceman
Ryan Harris unable to bat due to a stress-fracture
in his left ankle. Tim Bresnan's fourth wicket of
the innings, having Ben Hilfenhaus caught behind for
a duck at 11.53am, sealed the fourth Test victory
by an innings and 157 runs.

AUSTRALIA'S
WORST TEST DEFEATS:

England
won by innings & 579 runs at The Oval, London,
August 1938
England won by innings & 230 runs at Adelaide,
March 1892
England won by innings & 225 runs at Melbourne,
February 1912
India won by innings & 219 runs at Kolkata, March
1998
England won by innings & 217 runs at The Oval,
London, August 1886
Pakistan won by innings & 188 runs at Karachi,
September 1988
England won by innings & 170 runs at Manchester,
July 1956
England won by innings & 157 runs at the MCG,
December 2010
England won by innings & 137 runs at The Oval,
London, August 1888
South Africa won by innings & 129 runs at Durban,
February 1970

The
Nine Network has caused a furore for allowing online
betting agency Betfair to advertise during the Boxing
Day Test, with campaigners furious that the plugs
-- including one by cricket legend Ritchie Benaud
-- expose children and teenagers to gambling.

World
Vision head Tim Costello and South Australian senator
Nick Xenophon said yesterday they were shocked to
see Betfair's strong presence on advertising billboards
at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Mr
Costello, who was at the MCG yesterday, said he was
"very worried" about the potential for children
who viewed the Betfair advertising to go home and
gamble online without their parents' knowledge.

"You've
got families and kids here," Mr Costello said.
"Of course gambling is part of life, but I think
when it's a family cultural event like the Boxing
Day Test, the advertising is inappropriate."

He
said he was particularly concerned at the way Benaud
had quoted Betfair's odds during his commentary, broadcast
live around the nation on the Nine Network yesterday
morning.

"The
truth is we know that gambling addiction breaks up
families, causes crime and comes at a huge social
cost," Mr Costello said. "When it's a family
event like the cricket, when it's being broadcast
live and kids are listening to it, it is overstepping
the mark. It's inappropriate certainly for kids at
a family event."

Senator
Xenophon, who was elected as a South Australian senator
at the last federal poll largely on an anti-gambling
platform, described the online gambling world as the
"wild west" and called on the Rudd Government
to impose regulations on the broadcasters.

"Online
gambling such as Betfair has the potential to deliver
the next wave of problem gamblers," he said.

"There's
very little regulation in relation to advertising.
Gambling advertising ought to carry with it warnings,
and we ought to be looking at restrictions similar
to those that apply to cigarettes and alcohol."

Senator
Xenophon agreed with Mr Costello that the ability
for online betting agencies to advertise at the cricket
threatened the Boxing Day match's family-friendly
status. "It's a shame for the great game of cricket
that it's been reduced to just another event to have
a punt on," Senator Xenophon said. "It diminishes
the great game of cricket."

Nine's
publicity officer did not return calls yesterday.

Senator
Xenophon said he had concerns that online betting
on sporting matches could expose sports to corruption
and match-fixing. A spokesman for Betfair last night
declined to respond to the criticisms made by Mr Costello
and Senator Xenophon, but the agency has strongly
argued in the past that it has safeguards in place
to guard against corruption, the risk of which is
increased because punters have the chance to bet on
a team's loss as well as a win.

Betfair
tipped off the Australian Football Federation last
week that Socceroos Kevin Muscat and Craig Moore,
as well as Melbourne Victory midfielder Grant Brebner,
had bet on soccer matches, in breach of regulations.

In
2000, South African captain Hansie Cronje was banned
from cricket for life after admitting he took bribes
from bookmakers to fix games.

And
Shane Warne and Mark Waugh were fined by the Australian
Cricket Board after being offered inducements to give
pitch and weather reports on Australia's tour of Pakistan
and Sri Lanka in 1994.

Profile

Cricket
is a bat and ball sport played between two teams,
usually of eleven players each. A cricket match is
played on a grass field (which is usually roughly
oval), in the centre of which is a flat strip of ground
22 yards (20.12 m) long, called a pitch. At each end
of the pitch is a set of three parallel wooden stakes
(known as stumps) driven into the ground, with two
small crosspieces (known as bails) laid on top of
them. This wooden structure is called a wicket. A
player from the fielding team (the bowler) bowls a
hard, fist-sized cork-centred leather ball from one
wicket towards the other. The ball usually bounces
once before reaching a player from the opposing team
(the batsman), who defends the wicket from the ball
with a wooden cricket bat. The batsman, if he or she
does not get out, may then run between the wickets,
exchanging ends with the other batsman (the "non-striker"),
who has been standing in an inactive role near the
bowler's wicket, to score runs. The other members
of the bowler's team stand in various positions around
the field as fielders. The match is won by the team
that scores more runs.

Cricket
has been an established team sport for hundreds of
years. It originated in its modern form in England
and is popular mainly in the present and former members
of the Commonwealth. In the countries of South Asia,
including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka,
cricket is the most popular sport. It is also a major
sport in places such as England and Wales, Australia,
New Zealand, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Bermuda, and
the English-speaking countries of the Caribbean, which
are collectively known in cricketing parlance as the
West Indies. There are also well established amateur
club competitions in countries as diverse as the Netherlands,
Kenya, Nepal and Argentina, among others; there are
over one hundred cricket-playing nations recognised
by the International Cricket Council.

The
sport is followed with passion in many different parts
of the world. It has even occasionally given rise
to diplomatic outrage, the most notorious being the
Basil D'Oliveira affair which led to the banning of
South Africa from sporting events. Other examples
include the Bodyline series, played between England
and Australia in the early 1930s, and the 1981 underarm
bowling incident involving Australia and New Zealand.

Overview
The aim of the batting team is to score as many runs
as possible. A run is scored when both batsmen successfully
move to their respective opposite ends of the pitch
(wicket). (The batsmen will usually only attempt to
score runs after the striker has hit the ball, but
this is not necessary.) Runs are also scored if the
batsman propels the ball to the boundary of the playing
area (six runs if the ball reaches the boundary without
touching the ground, otherwise four runs), or if the
bowler commits some infringement.

The
aim of the bowler's team is to get each batsman out
(this is a wicket, or a dismissal). Dismissals are
achieved in a variety of ways. The most direct way
is for the bowler to bowl the ball in such a way that
it evades the batsman's guard and hits the stumps,
dislodging the bails. While the batsmen are attempting
a run, the fielders may attempt to knock the bails
off either set of stumps with the ball before the
batsman nearer to that set of stumps has reached the
crease. Other ways for the fielding side to dismiss
a batsman include catching a struck ball before it
touches the ground. Once the batsmen are not attempting
to score any more runs, the ball is "dead"
and is bowled again (each attempt at bowling the ball
is a ball or a delivery).

The
game is divided into overs of six (legal) balls. At
the end of an over, the batting and bowling ends will
be swapped, and the bowler replaced by a member of
the fielding side. The two umpires also change positions
at this time, and sometimes the fielding positions
are rearranged.

Once
out, a batsman is replaced by the next batsman in
the team's lineup. The innings (singular) of the batting
team will end when the tenth batsman is given out,
since there always must be two batsmen on the field.
When this happens, the team is said to be all out.
(In limited overs cricket the innings end either when
the batting team is all out or the predetermined number
of overs are bowled.) At the end of an innings, the
two teams exchange roles, the fielding team becoming
the batting team and vice versa.

The
team that has scored more runs at the end of the completed
match wins. Different varieties of the game have different
definitions of "completion"; for instance
there may be restrictions on the number of overs,
the number of innings, and the number of balls in
each innings, etc.

Results
Main article: The result in cricket
If the team that bats last has all of its batsmen
dismissed before it can reach the run total of the
opposing team, it is said to have lost by (n) runs
(where (n) is the difference between the two run totals).
If however, the team that bats last exceeds the opposing
team's run total before its batsmen are dismissed,
it is said to have won by (n) wickets, where (n) is
the difference between the number of wickets conceded
and 10.

If,
in a two-innings-a-side match, one team's combined
first and second innings total fails to reach its
opponent's first innings total, there is no need for
the opposing team to bat again and it is said to have
won by an innings and (n) runs, where (n) is the difference
between the two teams' totals.

If
all the batsmen of the team batting last are dismissed
with the scores exactly equal then the match is a
tie; ties are very rare in matches of two innings
a side. In the traditional form of the game, if the
time allotted for the match expires before either
side can win, then the game is a draw.

If
the match has only a single innings per side, then
a maximum number of deliveries for each innings is
often imposed. Such a match is called a limited overs
or one-day match, and the side scoring more runs wins
regardless of the number of wickets lost, so that
a draw cannot occur. If this kind of match is temporarily
interrupted by bad weather, then a complex mathematical
formula known as the Duckworth-Lewis method is often
used to recalculate a new target score. A one-day
match can be declared a No-Result if fewer than a
previously agreed number of overs have been bowled
by either team, in circumstances that make normal
resumption of play impossible - for example, an extended
period of bad weather.

Laws of cricket
For more details on this topic, see Laws of cricket.
The game is played in accordance with 42 laws of cricket,
which have been developed by the Marylebone Cricket
Club in discussion with the main cricketing nations.
Teams may agree to alter some of the rules for particular
games. Other rules supplement the main laws and change
them to deal with different circumstances. In particular,
there are a number of modifications to the playing
structure and fielding position rules that apply to
one innings games that are restricted to a set number
of fair deliveries.

Players and officials

Players
For more details on this topic, see Cricketer.
A team consists of eleven players. Depending on his
or her primary skills, a player may be classified
as a specialist batsman or bowler. A balanced team
usually has five or six specialist batsmen and four
or five specialist bowlers. Teams nearly always include
a specialist wicket-keeper because of the importance
of this fielding position. Of late, the role of specialist
fielder has also become important in a team. Each
team is headed by a Captain who is responsible of
taking the major decisions in the field.

A
player who excels in both batting and bowling is known
as an all-rounder. One who excels as a batsman and
wicket-keeper is known as a wicket-keeper/batsman,
sometimes regarded as a type of all-rounder. True
all-rounders are rare and valuable players; most players
focus on either their batting or their bowling.

Umpires
For more details on this topic, see Umpire (cricket).
Two on-field umpires preside over a match. One umpire
(the field umpire) will stand behind the wicket at
the end from which the ball is bowled, and adjudicate
on most decisions. The other (the square leg umpire)
will stand near the fielding position called square
leg, which offers a side view of the batsman, and
assist on decisions for which he or she has a better
view. In some professional matches, they may refer
a decision to an off-field third umpire, who has the
assistance of television replays. In international
matches an off-field match referee ensures that play
is within the laws of cricket and the spirit of the
game.

Scorers
For more details on this topic, see Scorer.
Two scorers are appointed, and most often one scorer
is provided by each team. The laws of cricket specify
that the official scorers are to record all runs scored,
wickets taken and (where appropriate) overs bowled.
They are to acknowledge signals from the umpire, and
to check the accuracy of the score regularly both
with each other and, at playing intervals, with the
umpires. In practice scorers also keep track of other
matters, such as bowlers' analyses, the rate at which
the teams bowl their overs, and team statistics such
as averages and records. In international and national
cricket competitions, the media often require notification
of records and statistics, so unofficial scorers often
keep tally for broadcast commentators and newspaper
journalists. The official scorers occasionally make
mistakes, but unlike umpires' mistakes these can be
corrected after the event.

The Melbourne Cricket Ground during the 1992 Cricket
World Cup.
The playing field
For more details on this topic, see Cricket field.
The cricket field consists of a large circular or
oval-shaped grassy ground. There are no fixed dimensions
for the field but its diameter usually varies between
450 feet (137 m) to 500 feet (150 m). On most grounds,
a rope demarcates the perimeter of the field and is
known as the boundary. (Credit:
Wikipedia)